An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")Farley, Ralph Milne
Science
An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")
Farley, Ralph Milne
Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction; Venus (Planet) -- Fiction
There I bade farewell to the ant and proceeded at once to headquarters
to report the loss of the plane to the winko, or admiral of the entire
air navy. Then I returned to my quarters, where I bathed and changed,
and had supper with Doggo, to whom I related the sad fate of his
friends.
Tabby was there and was glad to see me. But I should not say “see,” for
these pet buntlotes of the ants are totally blind, being guided entirely
by their sense of smell, which is very keen. They smell with their
antennae, as well as hear, these two senses being commingled in much the
same way as we are taught on earth to regard the two components of radio
waves: namely, electrostatic and electromagnetic.
But enough of Tabby’s methods of perception; Doggo informed me to my joy
that the Cupian lady had been moved to quarters adjoining my own; and
had expressed herself as no longer unfriendly toward me.
The next morning I called upon her.
I had now made sufficient progress with the spoken language, so that we
were able to chat quite pleasantly together. She had me tell my entire
adventures since my arrival on the planet, and punctuated my narrative
with many pretty “ohs” and “ahs” at the various points at which my life
was endangered and then spared. We parted very good friends, it seemed
to me. At least she no longer regarded me as a repulsive wild beast,
which was some consolation and encouragement.
In the succeeding days we became better and better acquainted, she
telling me a great deal about her planet, and I in turn telling her
about my life on earth. But I—warned by Doggo—never once suggested that
she tell me who she was; and she on her part showed no inclination to do
so.
Doggo, at my insistence, made no report to headquarters that her
hostility to me had ceased.
Frequently she and I dined together. Our favorite dish was a stew of
alta, the mushroomlike plant which the ant-men cultivate underground on
beds of chopped tartan leaves. The secret of growing this plant had been
carefully guarded by the Formians and has never been learned by the
Cupians. It tastes much like chestnuts, only not so rich, and forms the
chief part of ant diet, much like rice among the Japanese.
All this time I had seen nothing of my old enemy Satan; in fact, I had
seen nothing of him since he had tried to kill me many months ago. I had
dismissed him from my mind, and so was much surprised when one day he
swaggered into my quarters in a particularly truculent mood. Doggo was
with me at the time, and bristled up at the other’s approach. It was
plain that the two did not care for each other.
“How is your pet mathlab from the planet Minos?” sneered Satan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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